Turbines

ABSTRACT

A turbine comprises a turbine wheel or rotor and a series of operating fluid supply nozzles associated with the wheel or rotor, the rotor and the nozzle series being each carried on a freely rotatable shaft so as to be rotatable relatively to one another in opposite directions.

United States Patent Inventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee Priority TURBINES Edmund Murphy London, England Mar. 18, 1969 June 29, 1971 Cooling Developments Ltd. Lucerne, Switzerland Apr. 5, 1968 Great Britain 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl

Int. Cl

F04d 19/00, F04d 25/02 Field of Search Primary Examiner Henry F Raduazo Anomey-Baldwin, Wight & Brown 417/406, 415/6 B Fold 1/24, and a se tively to the wheel or rot carried on a fre ries of 0 ABSTRACT: A turbine com perating fluid supply nozzles associated with or, the rotor and the nozzle series being each ely rotatable shaft so as to be rotatable relaprises a turbine wheel or rotor one another in opposite directions.

TURBINES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improvements in .and relating to turbines and more particularly, but not necessarily exclusively, to turbines of the impulse type, such as impulse water turbines.

In the construction of impulse-type turbines, it is usual for water to be supplied to the buckets or blades of the rotatable turbine wheel through fixed jets, the water leaving the jets at relatively high speed to impinge on the buckets or blades and cause rotation of the turbine wheel by change of velocity of the impinging water in either direction or magnitude.

Examples of impulse turbines are the pelton wheel, the girard impulse turbine and the to go impulse wheel, the firstmentioned employing bucket-type blades and the other vanetype blades.

With turbines operating on this principle, it is clear that the only motion or driving force available for use is that of the rotating turbine wheel itself, which necessarily has a limiting effect on the efficiency of the turbine. Moreover, only a single operation, such, for example, as the driving of a fan impeller, can be performed by the turbine as there is only a single output shaft from the turbine wheel by which such work can'be performed.

FIELD or THE INVENTION The principal object of this invention is to overcome the aforesaid disadvantages and to provide a simple means whereby the efficiency ofturbines may be improved.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved turbine capable of driving axial flow fan impellers in controlrotation, thereby improving gas moving efficiencies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention broadly contemplates the provision of a turbine having operating fluid supply nozzles, which are freely rotatable around a common axis.

In practice, the invention provides a turbine having a turbine wheel or rotor and a series of operating fluid supply nozzles associated therewith, which wheel or rotor andseries of nozzles are freely rotatable relatively to one another, being preferably so mounted as to be freely rotatable simultaneously .in opposite directions to one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING The invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, which illustrate some embodiments of the invention, it being clearly understood that the invention is in no way limited thereto or thereby, but that the true scope of the invention is defined in and by the appended claims. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a part sectional elevation showing an impulse turbine embodying the invention and forming a single power source for driving two contrarotating fan impellers housed in a common fan duct,

FIG. 2 is a similar view to FIG. I, but showing modification,

FIG. 3 is a similar view to FIG. 2, but showing a further a structural modification and FIG. 4 is apart sectional elevation of a further modified turbine embodying the invention and applied to the driving of a single power output shaft.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In carrying out the invention in practice, the turbine wheel or rotor and the associated nozzle series are, preferably, each mounted on a freely'rotatable shaft, the shafts being arranged concentrically one within the other or coaxially in end-to-end relation, whereby fluid, issuing from the nozzles and impinging on the buckets or blades of the turbine wheel or rotor, will cause the said wheel or rotor to rotate in the direction of movement of impinging fluid, whilst the said nozzles will be 'caused to rotate in the opposite direction, whereby the said concentric or coaxial shafts will be caused to rotate in opposite directions to one another.

This phenomenon of contrarotating shafts actuated from a common power source can obviously be made use of in various manners and for various purposes. For example, a fan impeller may be carried by, so as to rotate with, each of the two shafts mounted concentrically, so that one fan is located beneath the other, in which case, on operation of the improved turbine, the fan impellers will simultaneously be caused to rotate in opposite directions, thereby producing, from a single source of power, the known desirable features of cooperating contrarotating fan impellers.

Or, each shaft may be suitably geared to a common power output shaft so as to provide a combined unidirectional drive for the said output shaft.

Referring now to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1 thereof, a vertical shaft 1, comprising an upper portion 1a and a lower portion lb is mounted so as to be freely rotatable in spaced bearings, 2, 3, carried in suitable mountings 2a and 3a respectively, and carries, at the lower end of portion la, a series of radially projecting nozzles objects 4 of an impulse turbine A through which water or other suitable fluid is supplied under pressure, such fluid entering the said nozzles 4 by passing upwardly through the hollow portion lb of the shaft 1 located below the said nozzles 4. Adjacent the upper end of the portion la of this shaft 1 is fixedly mounted a fan impeller 5. Concentrically mounted externally of this shaft la is a hollow shaft 6 carried in end bearings 7, 8, so as to be freely rotatable relative to the aforesaid nozzle-carrying shaft 1a. This hollow shaft 6 carries adjacent the lower end thereof the wheel or rotor 9 of the turbine A, the blades 10 of which are located in the path of flow of the fluid from the nozzles 4. This hollow shaft 6 is shorter than the nozzle-carrying shaft la on which it is mounted, and carries adjacent its upper end a second fan impeller ll, which is thus located below the first-mentioned-fan impeller 5 within a suitable fan duct 12. This second fan impeller II is fixedly mounted on its shaft 6 and is thus rotated in the direction of rotation of the turbine rotor 9 around the central nozzle-carrying shaft la.

The nozzles or jets 4 are so arranged that fluid passing through the said nozzles will issue therefrom substantially tangentially to the axis of the carrying shaft Ia.

As will be readily understood, with the above arrangement, due to the fact that the nozzles or jets 4 of the turbine are free -to move, the issuance of fluid from the said nozzles 4 will produce a reaction on the latter, which will cause them to rotate with the shaft 1 in a direction opposite to the direction of motion of the fluid, whilst the fluid impinging on the blades 10 of the turbine wheel or rotor 9 will cause the latter to rotate in the direction of motion of the impinging fluid. As a consequence, the two concentric shafts 1 and 6 will be caused to rotate in opposite directions to one another and'thus the fan impellers 5 and l I, mounted on the respective shafts, will also simultaneously rotate in opposite directions in the fan duct 12.

The modified arrangement shown in FIG. 2 is similar to that shown in FIG. I, like parts being indicated by like reference numerals in the two figures, except that, in this case, the noz zle-carrying shaft la, lb is not independently carried in spaced bearings 2 and 3, as shown in FIG. 1, but is carried, together with its surrounding hollow rotor-carrying shaft 6, in a common supporting housing 13 in which are located spaced bearings l4, 15, in which the said shaft 6 is mounted. Operating fluid is supplied to the nozzles 4, as in the FIG. 1 construction, through the hollow shaft lb, which is mounted in a rotary seal lc in the inlet pipe Id.

The arrangement shown in FIG. 3 differs from those illustrated in FIGS. I and 2 solely in that, in this case, the outer rotor-carrying shaft 6 and the inner nozzle-carrying shaft 1 are rotatably mounted on a fixed supporting shaft 16, upstanding from a suitable base mounting, not shown in the drawing. As shown, the shaft 6, carrying the rotor 9, is again carried on bearings 7 and 8 surrounding the shaft 1, carrying the nozzles 4, and this shaft is, itself, mounted on bearings l7, 18, carried by the fixed support 16. The rotary shafts l and 6 are mounted intermediate the ends of the fixed supporting shaft 16 and the lower portion 16a of this shaft 16, extending below the turbine A, is made hollow to allow of the passage of liquid to the nozzles 4 through an opening 16b in the said shaft 16. The construction is in other respects similar to those of the previous figures and like parts are again denoted by like reference numerals. In order to prevent escape of operating fluid other than through the nozzles 4, seals provided between the shafts 1 and 16.

H6. 4 shows a further modified arrangement in which the contrarotating rotorand nozzle-carrying shafts of a turbine, embodying the invention, are used to provide a combined unidirectional drive for a single power output shaft. In this arrangement, nozzles 19 of the turbine A are carried at one end ofa shaft 20 rotatably mounted in bearings 21, 22 in a housing 23 and carrying at its opposite end a pinion 24. A portion of the shaft 20 is bored as at 20a to allow of the passage of operating fluid under pressure to the nozzles from a feed pipe 25 via a gland 25a and aperture 20!) in the shaft 20. The pinion 24 is geared to a pinion 26, carried adjacent one end ofa drive shaft 27, through the medium of an intermediate pinion 28 carried by a shaft 29 freely rotatably carried in a housing 30, whereby the drive shaft will rotate in the same direction of rotation as the nozzle-carrying shaft 20. The drive shaft 27 is mounted intermediate the ends thereofin bearings 31, carried in a housing 32.

Arranged coaxially of the shaft 20 and extending from the nozzle-carrying end thereof is a shaft 33 carrying at one end the rotor 34 of the turbine A having blades 35 cooperating with the aforesaid nozzles 19. This shaft 33 is rotatably mounted, intermediate its ends, in bearings 36, 37, carried in a housing 38 and carries, at its opposite end, a pinion 39, which meshes with a pinion 40 carried by the drive shaft 27. Rotation of the rotor shaft 33, by impingement on the blades 35 thereof of fluid issuing from the nozzles 19, will, thus, cause rotation of the drive shaft 27 in the opposite direction, that is to say, in the same direction as that of the nozzle-carrying shaft 20. In this way, the entire power output from the turbine is transmitted to, and absorbed by, the drive shaft 27 to perform work. If desired, the two shafts may, in this embodiment, also be mounted concentrically and not coaxially as above stated.

Tests have shown that a turbine embodying the invention will have a considerably increased efficiency compared with a normal fixed nozzle turbine. For example, whereas a normal fixed nozzle turbine may have an efficiency of 50 percent, a similarly bladed turbine embodying the invention will be found to have an efficiency of at least 60 percent. Similarly, an efficiency of 70 percent can be raised to at least 8] percent in a turbine made in accordance with this invention.

Although in the above some embodiments of the invention have been described by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is, in no way, limited thereto or thereby, but that modifications may be made to the details thereof without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, when the improved turbine is to be used for driving a single power shaft, the rotorand nozzle-carrying shafts need not be arranged truly coaxially, as described, but some slight eccentricity may be permitted in the layout. Moreover, if desired, a turbine having concentrically mounted shafts may be used to drive a single power output shaft instead of the coaxial shaft arrangement described above for use in this connection.

The improved turbine may be made of any of the materials at present used for making turbines, the particular material used depending largely on the purpose for which the turbine is to be used.

Whilst a turbine embodying the invention will be found advantageous for use in any application for which turbines are at present used, it will be found particularly suitable for use in the form of an impulse water turbine for driving contrarotating fan impellers of water cooling towers, or air-cooled heat exchangers.

I claim:

1. vIn combination with a heat exchanger, a water turbine driven fan impeller unit, a fixed rigid supporting shaft, a housing enclosing one end portion of said shaft, a first hollow shaft rotatably mounted on said supporting shaft, a series of turbine water supply nozzles carried by said hollow shaft adjacent one end thereof, a first axial flow fan impeller carried by said hollow shaft independently of said nozzle series and spaced from said nozzle series along the length of said shaft, a second hollow shaft rotatably mounted onsaid first-mentioned hollow shaft, a turbine rotor carried by said second hollow shaft adjacent one end-thereof so as to surround, and cooperate with, said nozzle series, a second axial flow fan impeller carried by said second hollow shaft independently of said turbine rotor adjacent said first-mentioned fan impeller, means associated with said supporting shaft for enabling operating water to be supplied to, and issue from, said nozzle series to impinge on said rotor and 'cause said firstand second-mentioned hollow shafts and the fan impellers carried by said shafts to rotate in opposite directions to one another, said hollow shafts extending into said housing and said fan impellers being mounted within said housing in cooperating relation therewith, and said nozzle series and said turbine rotor being spaced from said housing for the free escape of water therefrominto the heat exchanger.

2. A turbine-fan impeller unit according to claim 1 in which the nozzle-carrying hollow shaft is of greater length than the surrounding rotor-carrying shaft, whereby the two fan impellers, carried by said shaft, are located in closely adjacent parallel relation within said housing,

3. A turbine-fan impeller unit according to claim 1 in which the supporting shaft extends beyond the nozzle-carrying end of the nozzle-carrying shaft, the projecting portion thereof being made hollow, and the interior of said portion communicating with the aforesaid nozzles, whereby water to drive the turbine may be passed into and through said shaft portion so as to issue from said nozzles.

4. A turbine driven fan impeller unit according to claim 1 in which the supporting shaft constitutes a structural element of the heat exchanger, 

1. In combination with a heat exchanger, a water turbine driven fan impeller unit, a fixed rigid supporting shaft, a housing enclosing one end portion of said shaft, a first hollow shaft rotatably mounted on said supporting shaft, a series of turbine water supply nozzles carried by said hollow shaft adjacent one end thereof, a first axial flow fan impeller carried by said hollow shaft independently of said nozzle series and spaced from said nozzle series along the length of said shaft, a second hollow shaft rotatably mounted on said first-mentioned hollow shaft, a turbine rotor carried by said second hollow shaft adjacent one end thereof so as to surround, and cooperate with, said nozzle series, a second axial flow fan impeller carried by said second hollow shaft independently of said turbine rotor adjacent said first-mentioned fan impeller, means associated with said supporting shaft for enabling operating water to be supplied to, and issue from, said nozzle series to impinge on said rotor and cause said first- and second-mentioned hollow shafts and the fan impellers carried by said shafts to rotate in opposite directions to one another, said hollow shafts extending into said housing and said fan impellers being mounted within said housing in cooperating relation therewith, and said nozzle series and said turbine rotor being spaced from said housing for the free escape of water therefrom into the heat exchanger.
 2. A turbine-fan impeller unit according to claim 1 in which the nozzle-carrying hollow shaft is of greater length than the surrounding rotor-carrying shaft, whereby the two fan impellers, carried by said shaft, are located in closely adjacent parallel relation within said housing.
 3. A turbine-fan impeller unit according to claim 1 in which the supporting shaft extends beyond the nozzle-carrying end of the nozzle-carrying shaft, the projecting portion thereof being made hollow, and the interior of said portion communicating with the aforesaid nozzles, whereby water to drive the turbine may be passed into and through said shaft portion so as to issue from said nozzles.
 4. A turbine driven fan impeller unit according to claim 1 in which the supporting shaft constitutes a structural element of the heat exchanger. 